Tag: Roses

Garden Not Open Today!

talesfromacountrygarden4 Comments

photo 1_watermarkedToday we should have been flinging the garden gate wide open, boiling the kettle, slicing cake and putting plants out for sale – all to raise money for the National Garden Scheme.  Sadly due to coronavirus the garden gate is firmly shut and locked and the only tea and cake served here will be for us and three of our adult ‘children’  who are in lockdown with us.  There are worse places to be and the last few weeks have seen me gardening more than ever.  There are still weeds that have evaded me, I see more each day waving to me from the borders but many have pretty flowers anyway,  so some will be allowed to stay for a short while.

Some  plants that I envisaged being at their best today have co-operated.   Alliums are looking splendid and so far our two springer spaniels have managed not to destroy any of them as they charge round the garden.   The spring borders are now full of Geranium phaeum Samobor, Queen Anne’s Lace (cow parsley), Comfrey  and bumble bees!   All looking just as I anticipated it would before it all slides into disarray next month.  The first roses are just opening, Mme Alfred Carriere climbs up and through a partially hollow apple tree and the first couple of flowers are open right at the top.  Rosa Gertrude Jekyll is always one of the first to flower and hasn’t disappointed this year.   There are many buds on all the roses, promising a lovely display over the next few weeks.

IMG_0001 (2)_watermarkedIMG_0002_watermarked - CopyIMG_0003_watermarked - CopyIMG_0004_watermarkedIMG_0005_watermarked

IMG_0007_watermarked
The spring borders, taken over by Geranium phaeum  Samobor

IMG_0008_watermarkedIMG_0010_watermarked

IMG_0011_watermarked
Geranium Mary Mottram
IMG_0014_watermarked
A barrel full of hostas – mainly miniatures

IMG_0015_watermarkedIMG_0016_watermarked

IMG_0019_watermarked
Rosa Gertrude Jekyll
IMG_0001_watermarked - Copy
Just some of the plants that would have been for sale

As I won’t be able to sell tea and plants this afternoon I’ll be in the garden anyway – weeding!

For more about the National Garden Scheme open gardens visit www.ngs.org.uk

18 Days to go…..

talesfromacountrygarden4 Comments

IMG_0053

Not long now and we’ll be opening the gates and welcoming visitors to our NGS Open Weekend.    This will be the fifth time we have opened the garden in conjunction with others in the locality and we are hard at work.   I can’t guarantee we will be weed free, in fact I can guarantee that there will be some weeds but hopefully we will have pulled out all the obvious ones and the garden plants will be looking  lovely .   Amazing though how you can pull out nettles and sticky weed and think you’ve cleared an area only to look out of the window and see a three foot nettle waving at you!

The other task keeping me busy at the moment is potting on plants for the Plant Stall.  There should be a good selection available, the majority propagated from plants growing in the garden or from seed.IMG_0290_watermarked

The roses are starting to flower mostly of the “old fashioned shrub” variety which are our favourites.   This is a moss rose whose name is unknown to us – any ideas?  Hopefully there will still be some blooms on Open Weekend!

Peonies

talesfromacountrygarden2 Comments

IMG_0330IMG_0324IMG_0212IMG_0334IMG_0332IMG_0210IMG_0205IMG_0262IMG_0202IMG_0323

Peonies are definitely my favourite plants in the garden at the moment, closely followed by the roses.    The peonies have been in flower for weeks it seems and just keep going.   The scent coming through the open sitting room window from Peony Monsier Jules Elie (the huge pink one in the photos) is so strong.   The double white is Duchesse de Nemours and the beautiful deep red one is possibly Karl Rosenfeld.    My favourite though is the single white flowered variety – it was bought as Duchesse de Nemours which it obviously isn’t but what a find!   It is such a clear white and the scent is amazing.   A quick search on the internet shows that it might be called White Wings, but who knows.   Sadly it only has one flower this year,  I think many years of mulching the flower bed caused the plant to be too deeply planted and it didn’t flower at all last year.  Last autumn I dug it up and replanted it and it has grown better, I will be careful not to mulch too deeply round it in future and hopefully with patience (mine!) it will be covered in flowers again in future years.

Then the roses.   We have sandy soil which is not ideal for roses, but we have planted old fashioned shrub roses mainly and picked those which are meant to be good for poor soil.   This year they are flowering so well,   I am hugely impatient, not good for a gardener, but the wait for masses of flowers has been worthwhile.   The photos show Rosa Louise Odier, Gertrude Jekyll and Charles de Mills.   My absolute favourite though is Rosa Tuscany Superb which is only just starting to flower.  There won’t be so many blooms on the plant this year as the shrub was moved last autumn,  it has survived and is growing but I will have to wait patiently for it to go back to its former glory.    Last year we planted two roses in huge terracotta pots – both David Austin roses recommended for growing in pots.   Rosa Olivia Rose Austin was a must as we have two daughters with middle names Olivia and Rose and Rosa Desdemona which is a beautiful creamy white  with an amazing scent.   Both are growing really strongly and a perfect addition to the garden.

Who knows what will be my favourite plant in a week or so – I can’t wait to find out!